2011 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
#3 Connecticut Huskies vs. #8 Butler Bulldogs, Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX
Monday, April 4, 2011, 9:23 pm Eastern, TV: CBS
Opening Line: UConn -4
Current Line: UConn -3
Opening Total: 129.5
Current Total: 128.5
Money Line: UConn -170 / Butler +150
Learn how to read the odds here.
Two of the hottest college basketball teams in the country meet in Houston on Monday night, when the third-seeded Connecticut Huskies (31-9) square off against the eighth-seeded Butler Bulldogs (28-9) for the 2011 national championship. The Huskies (-3) have followed the lead of All-American guard Kemba Walker to their third NCAA title game appearance and have won the championship the previous two times they have made it this far under head coach Jim Calhoun in 1999 and 2004.
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Meanwhile, Butler has some unfinished business after losing to Duke 61-59 in last year’s national title game. The Bulldogs were rare favorites in their Final Four matchup with #11 VCU last Saturday, covering the 3.5-point spread in a 70-62 win over the Rams. They extended their winning streak to 14 games and improved to 10-1 straight-up and against the spread in NCAA tournament games over the last two years with the victory after advancing as underdogs in the previous four games. The team covered as 7-point dogs against the Blue Devils a year ago but lost the national championship when Gordon Hayward’s desperation 3-pointer clanked off the rim.
Even though Hayward bolted to the NBA after his sophomore season, the rest of Butler’s starters returned this season, including key contributors Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack. Howard was personally responsible for wins over #9 Old Dominion in the second round and #1 Pittsburgh in the third by scoring the game-winning points, and Mack has been the best guard in the Big Dance not named Kemba with his clutch shooting.
Walker’s postseason run has been simply remarkable, starting with his performance in the Big East Conference tournament. UConn became the first college basketball team to win five games in five days en route to the tournament championship, as Walker broke the tourney scoring record with 130 points. The junior has continued to dominate the NCAA tournament whether it has been his scoring or passing, averaging 25 points and 6.8 assists per game. The team has won 10 straight games and is a perfect 13-0 when playing on neutral courts this year, going 12-1 ATS.
Defensively, the Huskies are peaking and playing better than they have all season. They have limited their first five tournament opponents to 59 points per game on 37.5 percent shooting from the field with the UNDER cashing four times which you would know how to predict after learning how to handicap college hoops. Kentucky shot just 33.9 percent in a 56-55 loss to Connecticut last Saturday in the national semifinals and missed 8 of 12 free throws.
The Bulldogs have scored 70 points or more in three of their last four games, something that could be very difficult against a UConn team that has held its last six opponents to 67 points or less. Three of Butler’s last four games have gone OVER the total, although free-throw shooting down the stretch definitely played a role in those results.
Howard in particular has done an outstanding job of getting to the charity stripe in the tournament. He made 11 of 12 shots from the free-throw line against VCU despite foul trouble and missing 7 of 10 shots from the floor, including all five of his 3-point attempts. That discipline instilled by head coach Brad Stevens has been the difference during this year’s NCAA tournament run and could be again in determining who cuts the nets down on Monday night.
Now that you have read this NCAA championship betting preview featuring UConn & Butler, check out the NCAA basketball odds on this and all the games to compare the best lines at multiple sportsbooks. If you are just starting out betting CBB games another article that may interest you is the how to make winning NCAA basketball picks which will give you some tips to start picking more winners than losers.
